Coeeado eutulint



(No Model.)

C. RUTULINI.

MACHINE EOE NEUTEALIZING TEE EEEEGTS 0E RAILWAY GOLLISIONS..

Patented Aug. 30, 1881.

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N. PETERs Pmwumwgnpmr. wnminpor n4 c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CORRADO RUTULINI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MACHINE FOR NEUTRALIZING THE EFFECTS F RAILWAY COLLlSlONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,422, dated August30, 1881.

' Y Application filed J anua'ry 15, 1881. (No model.)

the safety-trucks are fully exhausted, s oy that To all whom @t mayconcern B it known that I, CORRADO RUTULINI, of no severe shock will beimparted to the tra-in. the city of New York,county and State ofNew rlomore clearly show the construction and York, have invented certain Anewand useful operation of the various parts, I will now refer Improvementsin Machines for Neutralizing to the enlarged views, of which- 55 theEffects of Collisions on Railroads, ot' which Fig. 3 is a frontelevation ofthe first truck, the following is a specification. a. Fig. 4is a longitudinal sectional elevation This invention has for its objectto prevent of the trucks a and c and part of truck d. Fig.

v accidents from collisions on railroads 5 and it 5 is a plan view ofthe same. Fig. 6 is arear-end 1ov consists of a series of trucks placedin iront of elevation ot' the truck c. Fig. 7 is a longitudi- 6o thelocomotive, connected together in such a nal sectional elevation of partof truck d and manner, and provided with springs and resisttrucks e andj'. Fig. S is a plan view/of the ing devices, so that when the forwardone ensame, partly in section. Fig. 9 isa rear-end counters an obstacleon the track or meets view of truck e, and Fig. l0 is a front-end viewthe forward one of another train the springs .of the same. z 65 cushionthe concussion, and the connecting The forward end ofthe first truck, c,has two devices of the several safety-trucks are sucside guards, a?,which are tted by dovetails cessively disengaged, allowing the thirdtruck or grooves to thel'front ofthe body of truck d, to pass into thesecond one against the action .enabling them to be set to and from thecenter zo ofits resisting devices, and the fourth and fifth line of thetruck, the object being to set them 7o trucks to pass over the secondand rst trucks, wide apartonth'e safetyftrucks of all trains goalsoagainst the action of resisting devices, the ing in one direction, asshown in Figs. l, 2, 3, resisting-power of the springs and resisting 4,and 5, and close enough togetherin those ot' devices being such as tocounteract all the trains goingin the other direction, as shown in forceof momentum ot' the moving trains, so truck b,Fig.2,sothat the guardsot' truck b may 75 that they are gradually brought to a state of enterbetween the guards c2 of truck a. All rest without receiving anyisuddenshock. these guards are beveled at their ends, to cause Figure l of theaccompanying drawings repthem to meet one another properly, and eachresents a series of safety-trucks made accordof these has an insidegroove and an outside 5a ing to my invention, in position in frontot theprojection, the outside projections of the con- 8o locomotive to protectit and the cars of the tracted guards sliding into the inside groovestrain should a collision occur; and Fig. 2 repof the expanded guardswhen thetrucks meet, resents the same after acollision,showing the tohold them firmlyin all directions. As soon manner in which they slideinto and over one as these guards interlock in each other-then 3 5another. The first safety-car, a, is supposed the buffer-plate a3 and asimilar buffer-plate on 8 5 to have come in contact with a similarsafetytruck b meet, and the springs surrounding the car, b, ot' anopposing train. The first safetyguide-rods ai are extended, oti'eringthe Vfirst truck, a., has four wheels, a a', and the rest of resistanceto the moving train. These springs the safety-trucks,c, d, c, and f,have each only are very powerful, and they may be made to 4o two wheelsat their rear ends, marked react by compression instead of by tension.A' Ehe 9o spectively c, d', e', and f. Thejpositions asfirst movement ofthe buffer-plate a3 discon- .sumed by the various safety-trucks given innects the frame a5, suspended by hooks under Fig. 2 are the extremelimit of their movement the truck', and allows it to fall on the rails,and in collapsing to oppose and counteract the moas thi'sframe surroundsthe wheels c the truck mentum ofthe train, which positions it is de-Afis prevented from moving off the rails side 9 5 signed they will neverreach in practice, as the wise. The wheels a are carried by a framesprings and resisting devices contained in fitted to slidelongitudinally under the truck them will be so powerful as to bring theheava, the frame being opposed in such movement iesttrain,when moving atits greatest speed,to by springs, so that no sudden shocks are ima fullstop before the resisting properties of parted to these'wheels whenacollision occurs. :oo

By the time the springs on the guide-rod have expanded about one-halfthe range of the movement the resisting device contained in the secondtruck, c, is brought into action as follows: The end of the rod as,which fits loosely in a hole in the upper spring guide-rod, a4, comes incontact with the bottom of the hole, and is pushed longitudinallybackward, and carries with it the rod c2, which is pivoted to the rod a6directly over the pivoted connection of the front of the truck c to thecar a. This rod c2 has on its rear end the wedge c, which disengages thecatches c4 from the frame c5, fitted Ato slide in grooves formed in theinside of the side frames of truck c. This frame c5 has connected to itby means of a link the bar d2, attached to the under part of theplatform of the truck d in such a manner as to be free to move forward acertain distance before the platform d3 moves, and it is caused to movefor-L ward by the fourth truck, e, the device which connects the truck dto truck e being fastened to this bar d2 and not to the platform d3. Thebar d2 in moving forward pushes the frame c5 before it and enters itsbeveled end between the central friction-plates of thetransverselyarranged springs es, thereby compressingr said springs andcausing friction-plateson the outer ends of them to bear hard againstthe frame c7, which carries the wheels c of the truck c, pressing thisframe c7 tight against the sides of the truck c, thus offering greatresistance to the moving forward of the frame @land wheels c', as thisframeis fitted to slide to the frontend of the truck c, which it iscaused to do by the platform di now pushing it ahead of it, the platformitself being caused to enter grooves in the truck c by the projection d*on the bar d2 coming in contact with the front bearing, which connectsthe bar to the platform, so that the frame d5, bar dz, wheel-frame c",and platform d3 all move f`or ward in thetruckctogether, being socausedto act by the momentum of the trucks c and f and the locomotive g andtrain drawn thereby. This bar d2 compresses the springs c6 firmlyagainst the f'rame ofthe wheels c all the time these partsare so movingforward in the truck c, so that the resistance offered by thefrictionplates of the spring c6 to the bar d2 and frame c7 has in agreat measure retarded the speed ofthe train and partly or whollyovercome its momentum. It' the train is not stopped by the time theplatform of the truck d is within the body of the truck c, then the endof the catch d5, which connects theforward end of the truck e to therear end of the bar d2, is depressed by. coming in contact with the cam08 on the rear end of the truck c, thereby freeing the bar e2 from thecatch d5 and allowing the body of thetruck e to slide over the outsideofthe truck 0,' the truck c being provided with channeled ribs U9 asguides therefor, and the truck e with flanges e:l to hold the truck edown onto the truck c. Considerable resistance is offered to this actionofthe truck e by the friction-plates ofthe springs e", located in itsupper part, being caused to bear against the inside of the upper partsof the side frames ofthe truck c by reason of the inside friction-platesof these springs c* riding over the taper-pointed bar 010, secured inthe upper part of the truck c. The wheels e of the truck e come in closeproximity to the rear of the truck c if the momentum of the train hasnot by this time been counteracted by the springs and resisting devicesbefore described, and the wedge d, projecting rearwardly from theconnecting device of the truck d, passes into the opening made thereforin the f'rame c5 and depresses the spring-piece e6 and pushes its bentends clear of the rear lower ends of the side frames of the truck e, andthe wedge at the same time unlocks the pivoted bars e7 from horizontalnotches in the body of the truck e, thereby freeing' the sides of thetruck from the frame c5, leaving the f'rame a5 and the wheels estationary, allowing the body ofthe truck e to be pushed farther overonto the truck c by the body of the truckf, which followsitonto thetruck c, the body c passing off truck c onto truck a., also providedwith channeled ribs a7 to receive it, and a taper-pointed bar, a, tocanse the friction -plates of the springs e4 to bear against the upperparts ofthe frame a.

The truck j' is provided with a resisting device consisting of thesprings f2 and frictionplates similar to the springs e4 and theirfriction-plates, to be acted on by the taper-pointed bar c ofthe truck cas the truckf passes on Vthe channeled ribs o9.

The resist-ance offered by these devices will be sufciently great toprevent the train ever causing them to assume the position they areshown as occupying in Fig. 2; but to guard against all contingencies,should any of the parts become weakened and allow them to collapse tothis extent, I provide a box at the rear end of the truckf, with anumber ofpowerfnl bnf'er-springs,f3, to the cover of which the front ofthe locomotive g is connected. Buffer-springs a9 are placed at the rearend of the car a, and all the connections between the cars are such thatthey are free to swivel one to the other to admit of their easilypassing around curves; and I call attention, where I have not speciallydone so in the preceding description, to the fact that all parts whichare designed to slide into or over other parts are considerably beveledto insure theirproper working.

When the safety-trucks have, due to a collision, been closed upon oneanother, as shown at Fig. 2, the hook al locks the buffer-plates a3 toprevent the rebound of the springs on the rods at, and the twobuffer-plates of the opposing leading trucks are firmly locked togetherby the hook au. lThe object of this locking of the buffer-platesvtogether is to allow ot the various trucks being drawn apart into theiroriginal positions by backin g down the locomotives, theresistance-springs c6 be ing first released by unscrewing theirbearingsockets, which is done through holes in the IIO IIS

sides of the truck c, or by operating them from underneath the truck,and by releasing the springs e4 and f2 by means of theright-andleft-handed bolts, operated to draw the two bearing-surfaces ofthe bars amanda8 together. The bar d2 may also be constructed in thismanner.

Should the collision occur with other object than an opposingsafety-truck, then I propose to use a suitable anchor to hold the firsttruck against the backward pull of the locomotive; or a suitablewindlass and chain may be attached to the trucks to draw them apart.

I provide the following means to make the machine operative to stop thetrain should a broken bridge or a Washed-away track be encountered. Insuch case the rst truck, a, would fall down oft' the track, therebyletting the front end'of the truck c descend. The spikes c would thencatch into the framing of the broken bridge or enter the ground and .beimmediately stopped. The falling truck a would pull on the bar c2 andcause the reverse taper end of the wedge c3, Whichis made double forthis purpose, to release the catches c4, and so let the other parts ofthe machine operate as before described. i

rIhe brakes adapted to be used with this machine are any oftheWell-known kind capable ot' being operated from the locomotive. Aseparate brake attachment, i, would be applied to each pair of Wheels,and these attachments would be connected together by the fixed pipes t"fi', secured on the sides otA the trucks e and fand located beneath theother truck, the ends ofthe pipes from truck to truck and from the lasttruck to the locomotive being joined by the ordinary iiexible couplings,thus enabling the brakes to be applied as desired under all ordinaryrunning circumstances; andthe invention further embraces lneans forautomatically applying the brakes to these safety-trucks and also thebrakes of the train, and at the same time reversing the engine theinstant the butler-plate a3 meets an obstacle or the first truck fallsthrough a broken bridge, Ste.; and it consists simply of the lever l,pivoted to the frame of the truck a, located so that its lower endismoved by the buffer-plate a3 `when it is pushed backward, the upper endof lever l being connected by the cord or Wirem to the lever a on theVlocomotive g. The upper end ot' the lever o, on the same shaft asaisfastened,is connected by the rod o to the lever o2, which operates thebrakes and the reversing-gear of the engine vwhen the cord or wire m ispulled, so that the brakes `are applied and the engine reversed eitherby the action ot' the bu'erplate on the levert or by the first truck, a,leaving the truck c.

It is obvious that the several parts of this machine may be considerablymoditiedwithout departing from the nature of my inventionas, forinstance, the springs and friction-plates e4 and f2 in trucks e and fmaybe dispensed with, the friction of' the bodies of these trucks on thechanneled ribs e9 and a7 being alone depended on for resistance, thechannel-ribs bein g constructed as spring-bars, to be released by screwswhen the trucks are being separated; and it is also obvious that some ofthe safety- `trucks composing the machine may be used Without others,and that it may be applied to both ends ot' the train, it' desired, andthat the size of the trucks and strength of the springs and resistingdevices may be varied according to circumstances; so I do not Wish toconfine myselt` to the particular construction and arrangement of thevarious parts shown; but

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A machine for neutralizing the effects of collisions on railroads,consisting ot' a series of -fer-plate a3 and springs and guide-rods a,and

a rod, a5, in combination With the truck c, provided with the rod c2 andWedge c3 and locking device to hold the wheels c and their connectionsin position at the rear end of the truck c, substantially as and for thepurpose hereinbefore set forth.

4. In combination with the lirst truck of a machine forneutraliziug theett'ects of collisions on railroads, a series of trucks provided eachwith only one pair of Wheels at their rear ends, whereby they are freeto slide into and over one another, substantially as and for the purposehereinbefore set forth.

5. As a device for offering resistance in a safety-truck adapted toslide into or over another truck, the combination of a spreading barwith a series of springs provided with friction-plates, whereby pressureis applied to the sliding parts of the trucks, substantially ashereinbefore set forth.

(5. rllhe front operating device or truck of a machinefor neutralizingthe effects of collisions on railroads and a connectin g cord or Wireand a lever, constructed and arranged to operate the reversing-gearofthe locomotive and the brakes, in combination, substantially as andfor the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day ofJanuary, A. D. 1881.

CORRADO RUTULINL Witnesses:

FELIX AUGAIGNE, H. D. WILLIAMS.

IZO

